Flip Flop

Yesterday, I was wringing out my gloves and questioning my sanity, once again, as we sat on wet chairlifts and wiped raindrops off our goggle lens. It was raining, and raining pretty hard and steadily. The strange thing, as Mark mentioned yesterday, was that the snow surface was soft and smooth. Skiing is often unpleasant when attempted in the rain, but the connections between one’s skis and the snow are often very pleasant. Yesterday was one of those days. We skied until we were soaked and needed a break. After the break, I was planning on returning to the hill to enjoy the softer conditions, even though I was wet, because soft is better than hard. As many of you know, conditions have been very firm as of late, but yesterday it all turned around.

Well, overnight Mother Nature did another flip-flop. The rain stopped and created conditions perfect for freezing the entire surface of the mountain. The rain we have received in the past few days smoothed out many slopes. Moguls are gone, or at least diminished. An example would be the Face under the Summit Chair. Other areas have just been turned into tabletops. Smooth, slick, icy slopes that are actually pretty dangerous. Today, there was little grooming for those that like nicely prepared trails. Grooming was not as perfect as it has been, and it had a very firm surface. The overnight conditions did not lend themselves to the perfectly groomed conditions that we have enjoyed recently. A person’s choice this morning was to take care and ski the uneven prepared slopes or wander off onto the off-piste areas that were smooth and very firm. The soft snow that excited Mark yesterday was gone and replaced with ice.

First thing this morning, most lifts were operating. We took a ride up Summit Chair and tried Alpine Bowl, where a rather narrow path had been groomed. I immediately ventured off the prepared path and skied the smooth icy area where it was possible to set an edge, but not easy.

A fall in these conditions can end in a very long, fast slide that is difficult, if not impossible, to arrest. The steeper the slope, the more danger it presents. Some trails were not smoothed out. Chicken Leg, one of our regularly used, self-named, trails off Roundhouse Chair, consisted of frozen rubble and deep ski tracks made in the mush the day before. Skiing these conditions was very difficult, and many might say foolish. What I am trying to say is that the conditions today were less than perfect. I did notice a number of ambulances in the parking lot in the early afternoon, indicating that there may have been a number of accidents. Conditions today were ripe for accidents.

Skiers did not swamp the slopes and lifts this morning. While I was on the mountain, trails were not overcrowded, although some people, as usual, were going too fast. As I have mentioned, conditions were not for everyone. Perhaps this is why a number of lifts were closed early. Scott and Sherwood were open in the morning, but they closed early.

I do not think Lakeview opened at all today. TLC was open to the mid-station after Sherwood closed. Summit and Roundhouse remained open for the day.

Temperatures were still on the warm side during the day today, not much below freezing. In fact, temperatures were above freezing in most areas of the mountain. Winds were increasing early in the afternoon under partly cloudy skies. Our hope for snow had not materialized by mid-afternoon.

Enjoy your day,

Andy